


a moment halfway there

by swordsainted



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Ambiguous Relationships, Clubbing, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Multi, No Smut, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, and it's fine to have fun for a little while instead, everyone is fed up with studying, feelings and complicated and undefined
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swordsainted/pseuds/swordsainted
Summary: Sora glances between them, the look on his face edging towards panicked; his hair is somehow even more of a mess after his impromptu nap. “But I’m going to fail!” he wails, defensively cradling the spit-soaked book against his chest. “I don’t know anything!”“Then fail,” Riku says, utterly merciless.Sora looks like he’s ready to collapse.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 2





	a moment halfway there

Riku picks up his pen, holds it far above the table, and lets it drop; the dull bounce of the thin plastic off of the countertop is profoundly unsatisfying. He looks at the others for the first time in a while, eyes narrowing. 

Kairi blinks back at him, her stare glazed over in that special combination of stress and sleep deprivation that every student has by the time they hit the middle of the semester. Still, she’s at least aware enough of what’s going on to have a faint spark of curiosity behind the exhaustion.

Sora, on the other hand, is face down in a textbook. He’s either dead or asleep. Riku would guess the latter, since he can also see drool leaking off the edge of the page.

“You know what? Fuck this, actually,” he says, and nudges at Sora’s calf under the table. 

Sora immediately jolts upright so fast Riku finds himself a little bit impressed. “Whuh?” he mutters.

Kairi laughs, doing her best to hide it behind her hand. It doesn’t matter, of course. Sora’s shameless.

“No more studying,” Riku declares, and reaches out to close Sora’s gross, soggy book. But like, gingerly. He’s not sticking his fingers in drool without a damn good reason, thanks. “Our exams are tomorrow. Cramming more now isn’t going to do anything.”

“That’s true.” Kairi slumps in her seat, stretching her arms above her head. Riku is pretty sure he hears her joints pop from across the table, which only cements in his head that midnight study sessions in the library aren’t helping anyone with anything.

Sora glances between them, the look on his face edging towards panicked; his hair is somehow even more of a mess after his impromptu nap. “But I’m going to  _ fail!”  _ he wails, defensively cradling the spit-soaked book against his chest. “I don’t know  _ anything!” _

“Then fail,” Riku says, utterly merciless.

Sora looks like he’s ready to collapse.

Riku leans over the table, gently freeing the textbook from Sora’s desperate clutches. “I mean it. Seriously. It’s the midterm, not the final. You can fail it and still pass the class. We’ll help. Freaking out about it now won’t help you tomorrow.”

“But,” Sora starts, and Kairi clears her throat, catching his attention.

“You literally fell asleep,” she points out, tone as sweet as ever. It’s utterly devastating. Sora wilts on the spot.

Riku laces his fingers behind his head, pushing his chair onto its back legs. He has an idea. And maybe it’s ridiculous, honestly, but who cares? They’re tired, they’ve been working hard, and it can’t hurt any more than staying up till sunrise and staring dully at flashcards and practice problems would have.

“Let’s go to the club,” he says abruptly. 

The other two stare at him like he’s sprouted a second head, Kairi still stuck in the middle of reaching out to tickle Sora. 

“No, but really.” His voice edges a little towards defensive; he stomps on the familiar surge of regret and brushes it aside. “I’m not tired yet, just bored. And it’s been a really long time since we did anything fun. As long as we don’t drink...don’t you guys want to dance a little?”

Sora and Kairi turn to face each other, trading looks. 

Years ago, that easy communication they have would’ve driven him mindless with envy, wondering what it was between them that he couldn’t understand.

He’s old enough now to realize that he has his own system of glances between the two of them, and that the three of them aren’t as separated as he’d thought they were once upon a time. 

They grin at him in the same moment, decision obviously made. Both of them could light up a room on their own. Combined, they make Riku feel like he’s staring at the sun. 

“You’re a genius,” Kairi says, and he feels his own face split into a smile. 

They jumble their things together faster than they really should, a heap of veterinary science, foreign language, and creative writing split between their backpacks without anyone really paying attention to if they’ve actually managed to get their own belongings. They almost definitely haven’t.

It doesn’t matter. Riku can feel the anticipation buzzing in his veins, surging excitement at finally doing  _ something _ instead of the endless slog of coursework and stress again. 

They dump everything at Kairi’s; her apartment is closest to the library. None of them are really dressed for the weather, given that they’d originally planned to go home before dinner the night before, but the chill barely makes an impact when they huddle together, cold arms brushing against each other.

Riku glances at his watch sometime in the space between piling into their Uber and spilling out again onto an empty sidewalk, the dizzy thought that maybe everything feels surreal because it’s past two in the morning settling in his mind before jolting sideways and being forgotten again.

Maybe he’s just tired.

It’s fine if they’re up late. They all have afternoon exams.

Even if they didn’t, though, he doesn’t think it matters in this moment. Sora’s eyes are shining and Kairi is laughing at nothing, both of their hands twisting in his, fingers cold and comforting all at once. He doesn’t even know when they’d both gotten a hold on him. 

Doesn’t matter. He likes it.

It’s not like they’ve grown apart. It’s just that they’ve all been dragged down by the constant waves of shit to get done, so much so that they haven’t just  _ been themselves _ in longer than he cares to admit. 

He’s missed the way Sora’s eyes shine when he’s excited and the way that Kairi giggles for no particular reason at all when they stumble in their rush to  _ get  _ somewhere, lingering in the moments of blurred happiness. 

It’s like they’re kids racing down the beach again, just for a minute.

He slams the door open; he can see Maleficent whip around from behind to scold him for the noise, only to let the reprimand go in favor of just rolling her eyes. She’s got a soft spot for him, he knows—even if it’s only because he sits there half the days of the week even when he’s not drinking and lets her give him vaguely ominous advice, and always tips well after, too. 

He fucking loves Heartless, the way the deep bass in the nondescript building shakes his bones and the chaos of people who get it just  _ feeling _ . 

It’s the kind of place Sora and Kairi wouldn’t think to go into on their own but love because he loves it.

Riku doesn’t have to be drunk to dance here.

There’s a certain quality to the air in here, an odd shut-off feeling like once a person enters they never really leave, and what’s real inside isn’t real outside. It’s a liminal space, at least for Riku, somewhere he’s himself but also not  _ quite. _

He’s a little more free.

He sucks in a breath and squeezes their hands, dragging them with no resistance at all towards the mostly-empty dance floor. It’s midterms, and a fucking Wednesday (or is it Thursday now?) and not many other people are feeling this reckless.

He has to wonder if he isn’t a little wonder-drunk; he moves and his body is a part of the music, something deep and fierce inside him singing out in delight as they fall into a familiar rhythm of being close, moving around each other, almost,  _ almost  _ touching but never quite. Not really.

This is the space where he can look at his friends and simply think  _ beautiful,  _ and none of the other thoughts in his head interfere.

He brushes his lips over Kairi’s cheek, savoring the way her eyes flick up to meet his and the startled but pleased laugh he gets in response; his gaze cuts to Sora’s face, taking in the way his lips are barely-parted and a faint blush dusts his cheeks.

Years ago he would’ve felt smug about getting such an obvious reaction. Now, he’s still smug, but it has a different flavor.

Riku’s fingertips skim up and over Sora’s shoulder until they find his jaw, tipping his chin upwards until Sora’s stuck there, looking up at him. It’s a distinctly suggestive angle, and Riku cocks a brow, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

He’s just teasing, but it’s  _ so  _ satisfying to watch Sora go red all the way down to his throat, suddenly nervous, just a _ little _ unsure—

Riku drops a light kiss to the tip of his nose and lets go, grin widening at the sound of Kairi saying his name with fond exasperation, a light shove to his shoulder forcing him to look at her again.

He’s not crossing any lines in their friendship tonight, even if it almost feels like right here, in this moment, he could do it and be welcome.

“You know he can’t handle you! Ridiculous,” Kairi scolds, and Riku laughs loud enough that he catches Maleficent half-turning to roll her eyes in their direction again. 

“Not my fault,” he counters, but he says sorry-not-sorry for his sins by promising to pay for lunch on the weekend, and then promptly slings his arms around both their waists and they all dance in a messy jumble of limbs and laughter and stumbling, not worrying at all just for a little while.

Just for a little while. 

None of their delirious happiness stops Pete from very gently shoving them all out the door half an hour past closing, of course, but that’s okay. 

Kairi tucks herself into his side, dragging an arm around her shoulders; he catches Sora’s hand before he has a chance to protest, and they wait like that until their ride arrives and all the way through it, too. Kairi texts Naminé, who’s still up frantically trying to finish a painting, apparently; Kairi says she doesn’t mind.

Not that it’s a surprise, really. Naminé is sweet. She’s never minded the boys bumbling in and out of her shared apartment like particularly enthusiastic puppies, or having to step over them asleep on the living room floor that one time, or even the times they’ve kidnapped her to join them for dinner.

Riku lets go long enough to wave at Naminé, every bit of him still feeling lost in the beat they’ve left behind, but nothing is real at this hour. It’s fine. 

It’s fine when they all collapse onto Kairi’s bed, too, awkwardly reaching to pull each other’s shoes off and groaning breathless when elbows jab into sides and faces, the kind of familiar feeling they’ve all lived through a thousand times already. 

There’s no shame, only familiarity.

Riku closes his eyes, face tucked into Sora’s shoulder and Kairi’s arm slung over him and her whole body curled around his back, and thinks that like this, he can dissolve into a single moment. 

Maybe tomorrow he’ll tell them about the words trapped inside his heart, he thinks; it’s the hundredth time or more that he’s thought this, new but not shiny-new anymore, and who knows?

Maybe he will. Maybe tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno, just been really tired lately and remembered how absolutely bonkers exam weeks always made me. Also I really just like college AUs and wanted to do something small just for fun. 😊


End file.
